Approved for Release: 2019/10/29 C06826834

"lo -

R0\l \\l~\ Ceausescu l-'atee.s the Nation

President Ceauscscu yesterday publicly acknowledged

continuing
disturbances in Timisnara amid grawin signs ’ concern "
g 0, mtlun th
'

security forces over their ability to contra! the unrest.

6
During a nationally televised s eech. Ceaus ppettred visibly
shaken and
hooligans. organize
claimed 3 )
y 'trre ent|st" and "foreign intelligence"
forces. were behind the unrest. Ceausescu
also decreed a state of
emergcncv, in the Timisoara area bann t‘d pu bl e gatherin
.
s of more
.-than live people. and placed security forces
on full alert.

irowds of several thousand gathered

i

tn me center ol"fimisoara yesterday aftemoon for the fourth straight

day. Workers have occupied and threatened to
destroy a chemical
p la n t tn t h e etty iftroops are not
'
'

unidentified tele p hone caller. being mteruewed

'

"
'

on '

state television. said last '

ll the tanks had been

pulled out of Q_@

Comment: The fate ofthe Ccausescu regime may depend

end to the disturbances. lfthey continue to on a quick
spread—particularly if
they reach the eapital—some security olficials may
lose their nerve
and balk at obeying orders to continue using
deadly force against
their fellow citizens. Any break in the discipline
ofthe security
forces—the critical
we ¢<="=W-
pillar ofthe re im ould cause its sudden and

\|WIl'Sect:gL
TC S 299$/89
3 2| December I989

Approved for Release: 2019/10/29 C06826834